Chinese medicine and physical exercise
Lately, I’ve been considering any holes I can find in my Classical Chinese Medicine education here at NCNM. Amazingly, there aren’t many. It’s hard to put together a top notch program in any topic, much less one as complicated as Chinese medicine. One place I have found myself without much to go on is in understanding the role of physical exercise in health according to this medicine. I’ve learned things here and there, both in class and in my own study, but the information is confusing and definitely conflicts with my own experience in places. In this article, I’d like to briefly discuss what I feel I have learned and the problems I’ve found therein. I hope that you will add your input in the comments. Some of what I write below will be in explicit TCM terms, as most of the docs I’ve talked to about this subject know that system best.
What I’ve learned about physical exercise since starting school in Chinese Medicine:
- In general, vigorous exercise is not recommended. This is particularly the case when the exercise is productive of lots of sweat. The thought is that the discharge of so much sweat inevitably damages Heart Yang, given that Heart Yang is used to expel sweat from the pores. Instead, gentler forms such as Qigong, Taiji and sometimes Yoga are recommended. These are said to build the body from the inside in a way that does not damage any vital substance of the body.
- Many of our doctors mention of how overwork can be very bad for the muscles and tendons and deplete both the Blood and the Qi. This is often mentioned mostly with relation to labor, but also non-working exercise. We are frequently asked to consider the lot of laboring people worldwide. They are often physically strong, but become ill easily and have shortened life.
- Much of the negative information we get about exercise concerns specific habits. For instance, showering or soaking in water directly after being very sweaty (with open pores). It is said that this (common) practice pulls dampness into the body and creates conditions of damp and hot damp in the middle jiao. Lifting very heavy weights over long periods of time are widely regarded (by most medicine) to be difficult for the joints, tendons and even bones. Another commonly mentioned problem is the tendency for many weight lifters to be building a sort of “muscle shell” that only conceals a hollow interior. Their muscles are very strong, very impressive, but the person is ultimately weak on a number of levels.
- There are often discussions about the importance of protecting the Heart. We often hear worry about making the Heart work so hard and wasting its precious Qi and Yang. Sometimes we will discuss various spiritual theories about the length of a person’s life being determined by a pre-determined number of heartbeats or breaths. I don’t think this information is regarded very seriously, we simply discuss it as something intriguing to consider.
I can understand much of this. For instance, it is certainly important that we don’t overwork ourselves. I see many people exercising in the name of health who seem to be making gains (losing weight, gaining muscle) but possibly at the expense of their longevity because of heavy wear on the joints and Heart. Further, the practice of being hot and sweaty and immediately going into the sauna or hot shower has always made me cringe a little.
On the other hand, we need to be mindful of the current state of most Americans. Another thing that we hear railed about at school is the danger of being overweight - leading a sedentary lifestyle. So, while exercising too much is certainly a bad thing and we can advise our patients to avoid it, we do need to help our overweight and out of shape patients! It seems that most Chinese medicine doctors would have us just eat a moderate diet, sleep well and do gentle movement in order to stay healthy. This sounds fantastic, but it doesn’t seem to work for everyone. It also makes one wonder what to do with a person who comes in already suffering from an overweight condition. Often overweight conditions are helped with dampness draining formulas and SP rectification, but again, this doesn’t seem to work for everyone. Some of the work seems to need to come from the person themselves.
Anciently, of course, most people were doing hard labor. In many of the Qigong forms we use, we visualize doing various kinds of labor (grinding the millstone, for instance). So, there is obviously some kind of recognition of the physical benefit of hard work. But, again, as explained above - it’s clear to anyone that too much hard physical labor is not great for a person.
I’m interested in this topic for two reasons. First, I expect to have plenty of fitness-challenged patients walking through my door in just over a year’s time. I want to know how to talk to them in a way that makes sense, will help them understand a course of action and yet also be rooted in Classical Chinese Medical principles. Second, as part of my revised Year of Sagely Living goal, I plan to engage in a program of focused physical exercise to help achieve a more optimal physique. Why do this? Well, by anyone’s measure I do need it and also I find that the process (exercise, focusing on what’s going on with my body) is very pleasurable and gives me lots of energy in a way that doesn’t feel at all jittery or strange.
I’m interested to hear others’ thoughts and experiences with this topic. What have you learned? What have you rejected? Please comment!
Note: For the record, my current plan is to balance my physical cultivation through a combination of walking/bike-riding, weight lifting, gardening, Qigong and yoga. I am also doing some work with diet, but mostly just watching portion sizes and eating until I am about 3/4 full. This seems to work the best for me. I’ll probably track my progress on the YSL page, if you’re interested. I will be watching, particularly, my experience of some of this information listed above and monitoring my energy levels very carefully.
Eric
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Tags: exercise, human physiology, Year of Sagely LivingRelated posts
Welcome to Carnival of Healing #114 at Deepest Health
Hey everyone,
I’m happy to be hosting another Carnival of Healing, this one should help you prepare for the winter’s contemplation with ease. The last Carnival was graciously hosted by Debra Moorhead.com and next week’s will be in the capable hands of the writers at Where We Relax. I’m sure I’ll host again sometime in the future - why don’t you think about submitting a post when that time comes around? You can always check out the Carnival of Healing archives for ideas and, if you have a blog, offer to host the carnival yourself! It’s a worthy pursuit. Now for the posts…
At the always enlightening Urbanmonk.net, we learn something of the truth about loneliness, self-love, ego, selfishness and the often tenuous balance between these features of human existence.
Evan from a great Chinese medicine related blog, Acupuncture is Easy, presents some interesting food for thought concerning the environmental and social aspects of acupuncture in his article, Acupuncture, Ecology and Social Justice.
Abdallah at one of my favorite blogs, Even Unto China, offers us an intriguing perspective on the role of music in true health. He integrates insights from his experience with Islam and his understanding of Chinese medicine theory, with a little Chinese etymology thrown in for good measure. Don’t miss this one.
A late addition to the Carnival, a fantastic beginners article about my personal favorite Classical Chinese Medicine text - the Shang Han Lun. This is put together by a CM colleague and fellow blogger, G. Michael Reynolds over at his blog, Life Giving Sword. I think you’ll really enjoy this article, so take the time to read it through.
Helfgott blog, an up and coming natural medicine blog hosted by Helfgott Research Institute in Portland, OR reveals to us the lesser known benefits of a sweet treat, honey. And yes, before you say it, I know that it seems contradictory for a vegan to support an article about honey. It’s an informative read regardless of your stance on this sensitive issue.
Since exercise is an essential feature of health in any medical system, it seems right to present to you Stanimir Sotirov’s simple and accessible article, What is Pilates? posted at All About Your Body And Spirit.
Roger Knight who writes at The Happy and Prosperous Blog presents a helpful introduction to Homeopathy in his article, Myth, Magic or Medicine Part 1 | The Happy and Prosperous Blog.
Carole Fogarty of the Healthy Living Lounge presents a timely gift for the holiday season, titled, The one and only zen gift to give your children. In this time of hyper consumerism, sometimes it can be helpful to be reminded that sometimes the most profound gifts we give are the least material.
Mark A. Rayner reveals to us The History Of Medicine In A Nutshell at a blog with an intriguing title, The Skwib. I love how this article is both lighthearted and heartbreaking at the same time - not to mention accurate!
At Little Seeds we read about Windhorse, a philosophy of personal empowerment with ancient roots. A truly fascinating read.
In an article somewhat similar to the first in this carnival, Matthew Spears presents Breaking through the chains of identity at his site, Loving Awareness. With both of these perspectives, I think you will be thinking about your identity and its role in your life of deepest health.
Answering a concern that many modern people have, ananga offers an article titled What if I’m Too Tense to Relax? at Living By Design a well designed and informative site on natural health and personal development.
Last but definitely not least, SJ Yee offers a rich anecdotal article, Detoxifying the body, My 10 day Vegan Diet Experience. If you’ve been reading this blog long, you’ll know that this is a topic close to my heart. It’s a short article, but should give a boost to anyone considering trying a vegan diet.
Thanks for reading through these articles, folks. Hopefully they will give you both ideas and inspiration! Happy winter!
Eric
Tags: Acupuncture, blog carnival, Character, ego, exercise, natural-medicine, Personal Development, spirituality, vegan
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7 keys to understanding the Classical Chinese Medicine concept of organs
I’d like to piggyback off of the organ clock post and introduce the Chinese medicine theory of organs in a little more
depth. It’s important to understand that there is not just one right way to view the body. There is no more validity in viewing it in the Western medicine manner than there is in viewing it in the Chinese medicine manner. Each system (and many others) have taken different features of the human being to be primary, each system has used their own conceptual understanding to render a viable picture of the body and its interactions. Perhaps most importantly, each system uses their vision of the human being to craft effective treatments. It seems that different systems will create different spheres of effectiveness - a topic for a future post. With no further ado, here are seven things you need to know to enhance your understanding of Chinese medicine organ systems.
- There are twelve organ systems in Chinese medicine: Heart, Small Intestine, Bladder, Kidney, Pericardium, Triple Burner, Gall Bladder, Liver, Lung, Large Intestine, Stomach and Spleen. The typical convention is to capitalize when we are talking about Chinese organ systems and not to capitalize when we are referring to the anatomical organ known to Western medicine. Another convention is to refer to the in the singular. So, for instance, the Lung organ system includes the Lungs, but we don’t say - for example - The emotion of the Lungs is grief.
- They’re not ORGANS. Probably the most important thing to understand is that the Classical Chinese view is not based on materialism. Although the ancient Chinese did investigate the inside of the body and were clearly aware of the physical structures that Western medicine now names “organs” this is not primary for the medicine’s understanding. The organ is included in a larger concept that is often called the “organ system,” which you have already seen me use many times. This organ system includes the physical organ, it’s associated channel(s), the tissues, surfaces, functions and other bodily features associated with that organ and other more rarefied aspects of the system.
- The organs work together as a dynamic whole. While each system has specific functions and can be talked about in isolation, the beauty of the Chinese medical view of the body only becomes truly apparent when you focus on the interconnections. No system is complete without seeing its relationship to the rest. This can make it a little confusing to study because our brains seem to find it simpler to focus on one mono-dimensional thing at a time. TCM has largely lost its understanding of the physiological interactions of the organs except where those interactions are extremely simplified.
- The organs are a reflection of the macrocosm. This principle relates back to Chinese philosophical understanding of the holographic nature of reality. For a complete review of the holographic worldview, see Michael Talbot’s The Holographic Universe. The basic gist of this philosophy is that the fundamental nature of reality is reflected in its smallest pieces just as much as in its largest. The small reflect the large, and the large reflect the small - they’re both reflecting something much deeper than themselves. In Chinese medicine we study this principle all the time. On one level, each organ is a reflection of all the others - the parts reflect the whole. On another level, the total complex of organs and each organ individually reflect some aspect of nature. For example, the Heart reflects the nature of our Sun and acts as such within the body. Understanding these layers of meaning help us to fully comprehend the human body, and studying the human body through this lens helps us to gain a greater understanding about the Universe. It’s funny like that.
- Following from that, then, the organ systems can be understood using natural and governmental symbolism. For me personally, learning about the Chinese concept of the body was much easier once I learned to think about it as an ecosystem or as a country. With the former, I could simply walk in nature in a mindful way and reflect on the various features I found there. IS the Heart like the Sun? What would that mean if it were? How does that bear out in diagnosis? In treatment? I think this practice does its work on more subtle levels as well - it must be why we are constantly urged to spend time in nature as CCM students. Using metaphors about the government helped me a great deal in understanding the functional relationships between organ systems. If the Heart is like the Emperor (or the King, possibly the President) then what relationships should I see between it and the Lung, which is said to be like the Prime Minister (or Presidential Cabinet?).
- The organs’ interrelationships are therapeutically useful. Far from being a simple intellectual exercise, understanding the organ systems as networks of interrelationship bears out in treatment. An example: imagine we are looking at some kind of problem that - through the intake process, including tongue and pulse taking - we come to understand as being centered in the Heart organ system. A TCM process of differentiation would then focus on the Heart, most likely, only adding other organ systems in limited circumstances (such as adding Lung if there are breathing difficulties). A more nuanced approach will consider the interrelationships using various systems, such as five-element or six conformation. Using a five element approach, we might wonder whether fire is failing to be generated by wood, or whether it is being over-controlled by water. We would search for symptoms that might suggest this, we would recheck the pulse to see whether we had missed something. There are specific systems to use when doing these investigations, but the key is simply to dive deeply into the physiology in order to comprehend pathology. It will yield excellent treatment.
- Even with this complex understanding - the organ systems are not PRIMARY. In a sense, the organ systems are simply a useful way of organizing the overwhelming amount of information we can get from studying the human body. It is a convenient way because it has clear physical correlates. But we must also consider the fluids of the body (Qi, Blood, Jing, Shen, JinYe) as well as any more subtle aspects of the human being. We must also keep in mind that the body is not just a jumble of parts, but a integral functioning whole - when we treat we are not “tonifying the Kidney” but instead having a specific kind of impact on an infinitely complicated system using a particular technique. Maybe that’s splitting hairs, but it seems an important distinction.
There’s a lot more to know - but that’s a good start. Please put any questions or thoughts in the comments!
Eric Grey
Tags: classical-chinese-medicine, exercise, five phases, flu, focus, health, Learning, liver, lung, materialism, nature, organ system, Organ systems, organizing, overwhelm, pericardium, philosophy, pulse, rest, spleen, students, study, studying, symbolism, tea, Theory, traditional-chinese-medicine, visionRelated posts
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